3 genius summer activities to make summer fun from Busy Toddler
Because of social distancing, summer's going to look a little different this year.
With summer camp cancellations, many parents are trying to figure out a way to still make summer fun for their children without relying on technology and screens.
Susie Allison, the mom of three who created the popular website and parenting Instagram account, with over 1 million followers, Busy Toddler, has launched a free summer camp at-home activity guide to salvage the season.
"My goal is to help people find activities and things that they can do with their kids without relying on screens all of the time or having to spend a ton of money on new supplies," Allison told "GMA."
Trained in elementary school education, Allison is sharing her top ideas to keep kids stimulated and entertained all summer long, starting with the three STEM-inspired activities below.
They're all inexpensive and use common household items to stay on budget.
Visit BusyToddler.com for her full guide and more ideas.
Oobleck
What you need:
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup water
1 drop of food coloring of choice (optional)
What you do:
Mix 2 cups of cornstarch to 1 cup of water into a sensory bin or water table. Then, add a drop of food coloring of choice to make this taste-safe substance. Then time to play! Remember to ask you child, "Is it a solid or a liquid?"
"Oobleck is super fun and it's an amazing science experiment. It's a non-Newtonian substance, which means it has some properties of a liquid and some properties of a solid, which is completely awesome to play with because [kids] can't quite decide what they're working with," said Allison.
Since the substance is only cornstarch, water, and food coloring - this means this gooey goop is taste-safe, stain-safe, and can be easily disposed of down a drain or in the yard by diluting it with more water when playtime is done.
Fizzy Ice Cubes
What you need:
½ cup water
1 cup baking soda
Food coloring (optional)
Ice cube tray
White vinegar
Spray bottles, syringe, baster, kitchen tools etc.
What you do:
Mix ½ cup of water with 1 cup of baking soda and, if you want, add food coloring. Then, pour the mixture into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. The next day, fill syringes, kitchen cups, or spray bottles with white vinegar. Finally, in a sensory bin or outside, let the kids explore the chemical reaction between the ice cubes and the vinegar.
"The great part about [Fizzy Ice Cubes] is because [the chemical reaction] is in ice cube form, it takes so much longer for the reaction. It isn't that one-and-done vinegar-baking soda volcano that we're so used to. This takes longer and it just keeps fizzing, so for my kids, this went well over 30 minutes of them playing with these ice cubes and using them and experimenting with different tools and different ways to put the vinegar on," said Allison.
Ball Ramp
What you need:
Cardboard
Tape
Stick or broom handle
Random assortment of balls or circular objects
What you do:
First, use cardboard to create a ramp. Flatten a box, fold back the flaps. Then, tape a stick or broom handle to the back and lean the top of the ramp against a wall, down the stairs, or on the couch. Then, roll the end of the ramp up to make a curved jump. Let kids experiment with varying angles and objects to roll down.
A fun option is to add a "target" like a muffin tin or a bowl at the bottom of the ramp and make it the objective to get the ball in the target.
"Let the kids explore with setting the ramp on your couch, on the stairs, outside, inside, on the fireplace, on the ground at different angles, different rates of movements. Kids really explore what kind of objects roll best. 'How steep can we get it? How level can i get it?'"
"It's so much physics in such an easy package," said Allison.
Visit BusyToddler.com for her full guide and more ideas.
